By IANS
LOS ANGELES: The drama surrounding Johnny Depp’s multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit in opposition to his ex-wife and ‘Aquaman’ star Amber Heard, refuses to die. The issues have turned judicially bizarre, as a unsuitable juror took the chair in the course of the authorized proceedings, reviews ‘Deadline’.
{A partially} redacted new submitting by the Aquaman star’s authorized staff, accessed by ‘Deadline’, learn, “Ms. Heard had a right to rely on the basic protection, as prescribed by the Virginia Code, that the jurors in this trial would be individuals who were actually summoned for jury duty.”
“In this case, it appears that Juror No. 15 was not, in fact, the same individual as listed on the jury panel,” lawyer Elaine Bredehoft added in language much like a earlier submitting of June 24.
“Ms. Heard’s due process was therefore compromised. Under these circumstances, a mistrial should be declared, and a new trial ordered.”
According to ‘Deadline’, not like the earlier movement and memorandum positioned within the Fairfax County courthouse docket late final month to dismiss the June 1 verdict and permit a brand new trial, as we speak’s supplemental memo has much more particulars on what may snatch victory from Depp in his lengthy authorized battle together with his ex-wife.
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According to the redacted submitting, accessed by ‘Deadline’, the summons for jury responsibility was despatched out to a Virginia resident in April for the much-delayed $15 million defamation motion Depp had set off in March 2019 in opposition to Heard for a 2018 ‘Washington Post’ op-ed she penned on being the “public face” of home abuse.
Also, based on the current submitting, evidently there are two people residing on the similar tackle with, on the very least, “the same last name” – one a 77-year-old and one other a 52-year-old.
The former was the one summoned, however it appears to be like just like the latter was the one who confirmed up. “Thus, the 52-year-old [redacted] sitting on the jury for six weeks was never summoned for jury duty on April 11 and did not ‘appear in the list’, as required,” the submitting asserts.
Not seen by officers or clerks of the courtroom, the youthful particular person made all of it the way in which to the jury with out apparently ever being requested to provide any ID, or with maybe faux ID, the submitting implies. Additionally, it appears to be like like somebody crammed out the required on-line info kind both deliberately or by chance to say that they had been born in 1945.
Unaware of this on the time and in the course of the media-frenzied trial, Heard’s defence staff now needs a proof and to see some penalties, which may take the shine off Team Depp.
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